Course promotes muscadines for growing markets
Dec. 22, 2008Contact Information:
Dan Chapman, Director, Fruit Research Station
479-754-2406 / dlchapma@uark.edu
Elena Garcia, Extension Fruit Specialist
479-575-2790 / megarcia@uark.edu
By Fred Miller, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture
479-575-5647 / fmiller@uark.edu
CLARKSVILLE, Ark. — A shortcourse offered Jan. 15 by the University of Arkansas System’s Division of Agriculture will focus on the science and business of growing muscadines. The course will be held at the Fruit Research Station near Clarksville.
“Demand for muscadine products has increased nationwide because of their high antioxidant content,” said Elena Garcia, associate professor of horticulture and extension fruit specialist.
The Muscadine Experience: Adding Value to Enhance Profits, a Division of Agriculture publication, describes the uses of muscadines in juices and wine, jams and jellies, vinegar and other products. It also describes marketable by-products and nutraceuticals, extracts that offer benefits for human health.
Garcia said some Arkansas wineries have introduced both muscadine wines and juices in recent years. “Because of local and national demand, there’s great potential for muscadine growers in Arkansas,” Garcia said.
Garcia added that muscadines are native to the south, so they are well adapted to Arkansas growing conditions and have high natural resistance to diseases. “Once the vines are established, they have relatively low input costs,” she said.
The Division of Agriculture has a breeding program for muscadines, led by fruit breeder John Clark, at the Fruit Research Station, which is on Red Lick Mountain about six miles north of Clarksville. Follow signs on Hwy. 21 to Hwy. 292 and then to Hwy. 818.
The shortcourse covers many of the same topics as The Muscadine Experience and begins at 8:30 a.m. and concludes at 4 p.m. Morning topics will include site selection, pruning, fertility and muscadine varieties. Afternoon sessions will cover marketing muscadines for processing, costs and budgets, value-added products, weed control, drip irrigation, propagation and integrated pest management.
A discussion panel will talk about organic production and, weather permitting, there will be a pruning session in the field.
The registration fee is $25 and includes lunch. Deadline to register is Jan. 8.
For information or to register, call Katie Hanshaw at 479-754-2406 or e-mail khanshaw@uark.edu.
To order a free copy of The Muscadine Experience: Adding Value to Enhance Profits, call the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station at 479-575-5670 or e-mail nkyle@uark.edu. Ask for Research Report 982.
A PDF version of the publication can be downloaded from the Web: http://arkansasagnews.uark.edu/982.pdf.